Fall fly fishing on the stocked trout streams can be challenging but worth it. Big Stoney Creek west of Edinburg, VA is close to my fly shop. There are 6 miles of good fishing starting at the lower end of Camp Strawderman along Route 717 and reaching downstream to below Wakeman’s Grove Road just west of Route 675. There is good access to this stream from Route 717 which parallels it in the upper reaches and Route 675 which parallels it in the lower area. This is all open to public fishing unless someone has a short stretch close to their home posted.
Passage Creek in Fort Valley parallels Rt. 678 and has several miles of access in the George Washington National Forest near the Elizabeth Furnace area downstream to Rt. 619. This includes a put and take section as well as a delayed harvest area.
Starting in October you can catch trout in the deep pools with streamers such as Murray’s Black Marauder size 10 and Murray’s Pearl Marauder size 10. Fish these slowly by stripping them six inches every ten seconds to crawl them across the stream bottom. In normal water levels a floating fly line with a 9 foot 4X leader will enable you to fish these streamers deeply, however if the stream is high you may want to use a sinking tip fly line. One which has a ten to twelve foot sinking tip which sinks at two to four inches per second with a 6 ft. 2X leader really help you fish your flies deeply.
Other recommended flies for fall fly fishing on the stocked trout streams include:
If you need help on access, stop by our fly shop. National Geographic Map #792 is a good reference.